The Choices We Make
by Herzenslust
Summary: AU. If Hermione had never went to that "Charity Kissing Event", she never would've met Tom Riddle Jr. Maybe that would've made her university life a lot easier. But now she'll never know. - Inspired by a post seen on Tumblr
1. Chapter 1

**Before you start reading:**

_I hereby want to apologize for all the errors you'll find in the text. I tried to be as correct as possible, but, you know, I'm not a native speaker of English, so sometimes I struggle with grammar or word choices. Feel free to send me the mistakes you spotted; I'll gladly correct them._

_And now, PLEASE ENJOY! :D Hopefully it's not TOO crappy, but I think it'll be best if you decide for yourself! :)_

_Reviews are love!_

* * *

The hall was packed with people.

_No, _people _isn't quite right_, Hermione thought annoyed when she found herself unwilling to walk against the invisible wall of voices, laughs and chatters; so she stopped right in the middle of the entrance and started surveying the excited crowd skeptically. The slightly more precise term _girls _wasn't fitting either, especially since it would insult every single female human being on the planet.

_Maniacs. The people in here are maniacs._

And, what worst of all, though hardly believable: her current local position suggested that she, Hermione Jean Granger, was one of them.

"Listen, Hermione," Lavender said, "I know you don't want to be here, but I'm glad you still chose to accompany me. You can be sure of my eternal gratefulness." She rolled her eyes before she caught at Hermione's arm and dragged her along, right inside the lion's den. "But _this _is where the real fun begins! Why do you think I wanted to come here in the first place?! Just to _watch _other people having fun?!"

"Someday I really would love to hear your precise definition of 'fun'. I can't shake off the feeling that we need to order some things in your brain to-"

"Oh, spare me!" Lavender snorted and shot her a half-hearted angry look, but Hermione knew that she had already lost most of Lavender's attention to whatever was going on on that damn stage at the end of the room.

Suddenly, she stopped, let go of Hermione's arm and nearly started jumping up and down. Hermione _knew _just how much these kinds of things could make Lavender go crazy, but she never expected it to be _that _bad. "Just look at them and tell me you don't think they're super attractive! _Tell me!_" She squeaked, nearly making Hermione clutch at her ears.

"If I could see them, maybe I'd agree with you. Since that's not the case because I'm simply too short, I think I'll leave you to your very own imagination of _fun _and pick you up again when this… _event _is over. I'll be in the library." But before she could turn around, Lavender caught hold of her arm once again and held her in place with a firm grip.

"Oh no, you're _not _leaving," she growled. "Hermione, you're 21 years old and life's not just about university, books and never getting over Ronald Weasley." Hermione's eyes widened while Lavender broke into a sort of very passionate monologue in which she continued to remind her of the true beauty of life – that, being BOYS – and her responsibility towards herself to fill her own life with as much of this essential beauty as possible – that, being… never mind.

Hermione sighed.

"And now," Lavender finished, "Get yourself together, use your tiptoes and _tell me what you think of those godlike creatures._"

Hermione gave in. There was no way to disobey a very passionate Lavender – a fact she had known before she said "Yes" to her constant questioning whether she would come with her to this so called "Charity Kissing Event" their university held for the first time. She didn't even like Lavender that much; but after splitting up with Ron four months ago, she rarely went out with anyone anymore, just spend most of her time in the library, studying far more than what was expected, once more impressing her professors, just as much as she had already gained respect in the rows of her former teachers at school.

_That _was Hermione Granger's life; but instead of simply accepting this fact about her, she found herself tiptoeing just to get a glimpse at 10 boys on a stage which couldn't have been any lower!

For some reason, the crowd suddenly parted. Hermione realized that there were actually _chairs _in the hall which – unfortunately – no one had used because that would've meant losing sight of the "godlike creatures".

But now the people in front of her slowly started to sit down, which gave Hermione the possibility to finally see what made these girls around her nearly faint.

"Yeah, okay, they _are_ quite handsome," Hermione finally admitted, letting her eyes wander over the 10 smiling boys who stood side by side on the stage and were looking down on the huge crowd consisting mostly of girls swooning back and forth.

"They're HOT!"

"Language, Lavender," Hermione reminded her absentmindedly, when suddenly – and who would've thought _that_?– her attention was caught by the boy on the very left side of the stage.

He was rather tall, had huge, dark eyes and jet-black hair which reflected the bright lights in the big hall. His skin was extremely pale, his slender figure leaned against the table which stood behind him. But the _most _striking feature about him – apart from his essential and undeniable beauty – was something else: aside from her, he was the only one in the room who was _not _smiling, which was indeed a really outstanding observation if one let their eyes wander around. He seemed so _bored _that Hermione couldn't decide if she should feel disgusted – because then _why _was he present? – or if she was better off laughing at his apparent unwillingness in relation to what was yet to come. Just as she decided that the latter option would probably help her enjoy the next two hours, the boy's dark eyes lazily shifted towards her and their gazes met.

Hermione instantly got goosebumps and felt her mouth go dry. _Jesus! _Since Ron she never had felt such a physical reaction to someone, especially not to a person she had never seen before.

Lavender to her right raised her eyebrows, but when she saw at _whom _Hermione was staring, she couldn't suppress a laugh. "Oh no," she giggled, "No! Absolutely not! Not Tom Riddle. Don't do that to yourself. Just how strange are you?"

Hermione blinked and finally averted her gaze from Riddle's dark, very mysterious eyes. "Strange?" she repeated. _Look who's talking…_

Lavender nodded. "Yes. Strange. At first, you don't want to come here. Then you want leave earlier. And at the very end, you decide that staying is worthwhile as long as you can marvel at the glory that's Tom Riddle."

Hermione frowned. "I never said that."

"You didn't. But you thought just that. I know you did."

For a few seconds, Hermione simply stared at Lavender, who seemed extremely sure of herself. She didn't know why, but somehow, this made Hermione incredibly angry. The day that Lavender Brown knew what Hermione Granger was thinking yet needed to come!

However, before she could say anything to correct Lavender's reasoning, a voice which loudly echoed through the hall stopped her from doing so.

"Hello everyone!" said a _very _cheerful blonde girl who was standing right in the middle of the stage. The noises surrounding Hermione instantly vanished, and she internally wished that one day, she would encounter the same silence in one of the lectures she visited. _That _was a perfect learning atmosphere. Everyone was quiet, everyone was happy to be there. Really, there was nothing more one could ask for.

"Well, thanks for coming to this event," the girl continued. "I'm Laura, and I'm going to guide you through this auction." Some of the girls started screaming and crying at this time, ruining Hermione's dreamlike learning atmosphere by doing so. "The rules are simple. The highest bidder will get a kiss from one of the boys standing behind me. The money we gain here will go to charity organizations which are already counting on the success of this event, so don't disappoint me, please." Laura winked, taking a step back. "Before we start, there is just one very interesting thing I need to tell you." She fell silent, waiting for the atmosphere to grow extremely tense. Hermione rolled her eyes. So much drama in one day!

"You can just bid for boys one to nine. Boy number ten" – at this point, Tom Riddle lowered his head and observed his shoes – "will turn the game around. But you'll see what I mean as soon as we get there. But now… let's start."

What happened then was an explosion of cries, screams, tears, laughs, and – last but not least – kisses. Hermione observed what was going on with her arms crossed in front of her, very determinedly trying _not _to look at Tom Riddle again.

Actually, the boys one could bid for weren't _just _good looking – according to Lavender, all of them were rather famous and well-known around campus, which was either because they were a) very rich, b) very intelligent, or c) very rich AND very intelligent.

Hermione was aware of the fact that such people existed, but she had never cared much about them. Yes, she had seen some of the faces before, but since all of the boys studied different things than her, she had never worked with them. She wasn't very interested in visiting parties or attending official events, so there was hardly any place left where she actually could've met one of them.

But even _if _she would be acquainted with them, she _still _wouldn't be willing to bid the absurd amounts of money the girls around her were shouting at Laura, who seemed to be incredibly pleased with the way things worked out. Hermione guessed she had been part of the planning committee.

Even Lavender tried her best to make her dream of kissing a complete – and probably very arrogant – stranger come true, but the girls around them seemed to have saved all of their money earned in their previous lifetime just for _this _specific occasion.

Just as the biddings for boys one to nine were _finally _over and Hermione intended to raise her voice to remind Lavender that she could always try to continue fulfilling her dream simply by going to one of the discos nearby, Laura announced, "Thank you so much for your huge support, guys! Up until now, the event has been extremely successful, and we couldn't have accomplished that without your help!" Hermione looked at the stage, just to find it nearly empty. Only two people were remaining. Laura, and…

"And now, get ready for the very last and probably most exciting thing to happen this evening." She smiled, looking over at Tom Riddle, who was still sitting on the table, finally looking up at the blonde show master. A small smile made its way onto his handsome face, though Hermione couldn't tell whether it was true or not. He slowly stood up, unfolded his arms, put his hands in his pockets and came over to the place where Laura was standing. Hermione was fairly sure she saw how the girl started to tremble.

Honestly, she couldn't blame her.

"Yeah," began Laura while trying to regain her calm. "So, like I said. Mr. Riddle will turn the game around, Ladies." The girls started to whisper and elbow each other. They strangely reminded Hermione of her grandpa's chickens.

"He already spent 50,000 pounds" – a soft cry erupted some of the girls' throats – "to be able to choose the girl _he _wants to kiss." The whispers got louder and finally broke into hysterical chatter and screaming. Hermione was sure: the girl Tom Riddle would want to kiss probably would end up unconscious out of pure excitement, missing her chance to get the kiss she never expected to get.

Though that would be rather sad, it wouldn't surprise Hermione all that much. Honestly, she just wanted this event to be over. She wanted to be in her room. She wanted to read a good book. She wanted to leave this place. As soon as possible.

"So, Tom. Already made up your mind?" Laura looked down at the screaming crowd.

Riddle just looked at the ceiling. "Yeah, a while ago, to be honest," he answered quietly, though it was easy to understand him, because when he had raised his voice, the chatter and screams had died out immediately. Hermione raised her eyebrows. Now, that was an accomplishment. Maybe she just had to ask him if he was willing to accompany her to one of her lectures; maybe his very melodic and deep voice would be able to quiet the people there as well…

"And? Who is the lucky one?"

He very slowly raised his long index finger and pointed in Hermione's direction. The girl in front of her doubled over and was – unconscious. Oh, well. So predictable. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Is she all right?" shouted Laura and shot a worried look towards them. The girl next to the unconscious one knelt down beside her friend and nodded after a few moments.

"Thank god," said Laura and looked at Riddle. "Well, I'm sorry, Tom, but I think you have to choose someone else-"

"Oh, no problem at all," he assured her, tilting up his face. "You know, I'm really sorry to say that, but I actually wasn't pointing at that poor girl." He smiled, showing his bright, regular teeth. "I meant the one behind her, with the lovely bushy brown hair and the intelligent eyes who hasn't even smiled once the entire time. I really want to change that, because obviously she's not having an enjoyable time."

Hermione didn't need to look at the gaping Lavender to her right to feel her heart sinking.

This just couldn't be happening.

But right at that moment, Riddle's eyes shifted to meet Hermione's, before slowly nodding in her direction.

"You see? This one over there."

Laura followed his gaze and ended up looking at Hermione – just as everyone else in the now _very _quiet hall.

She had never felt so entirely uncomfortable in her whole life.

"Oh, I see. Good choice! Congratulations! Well then, would you mind coming up the stage?"

Hermione _knew _the last words were directed at her – but her feet just wouldn't move.

She rarely found herself in situations like this, but for once in a very long time-

Hermione Granger didn't know what to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hey there! :)_**

_Well, just one day has passed, and here I am again, uploading the next bit of a story which was originally intended to be a one-shot, but I was so overwhelmed by your nice reviews and your follows that I decided to actually start a real PROJECT here! :D (You still can run away, though. But it would be awesome if you decided to stay.)_

_As I already mentioned, this is ME trying to improve my English; Tomione is my drug. :) I hope you don't find it TOO difficult to read through the text – I'm actually a REAL expert at German punctuation rules (you know, we LOVE tossing around with commas A LOT because it gives the sentence a specific structure), but the English ones still make me freak out (because I always feel inclined to put a comma behind every, single, stupid, sub-clause, because, it's, in, my, system, and, I, can't, get, rid, of, this, structural, element). Like I said, I hope it's not TOO distracting._

_Since I didn't think I'd actually write more than a one-shot, I now need to sit down and outline a plot. This will probably take some time, but I hope I'll be able to update on a regular basis._

_That's that so far! Thanks for reading; credits will be listed below the story! :)_

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

Hermione swallowed. She felt like her feet were made of stone.

Riddle's eyes were fixed on her, and she was quite sure that she could make out a hint of dark amusement in them.

Seriously, what was this guy thinking?! _Was _he even thinking?!

Why _her_?

"I _hate _you!" mumbled Lavender, forcing Hermione to tear her gaze away from Riddle and to look straight into her round, red face. "Why are you always such a lucky bitch?!"

Hermione scowled, suddenly feeling a slight pang of anger somewhere in her stomach. _Lucky bitch_? So, one was a "lucky bitch" when a complete stranger gave the unbelievable amount of 50,000 freaking pounds to a charity organization if you kissed him in turn?! No matter how often she repeated this circumstance in her head, it _never _made sense.

Somehow, Hermione felt like even though she should actually _have_ a saying in the matter – she didn't. And that upset her immensely. Maybe if she would have been able to _choose_, she would have said "yes" indeed – but simply expecting her to be eternally grateful for this possibility and throw herself at the Riddle-boywas not really the option the others around her should have chosen.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know what there is to think about." That was Laura's voice tugging at her consciousness, trying to bring her back down to earth – which was the last place Hermione wanted to be at right now. "50,000 pounds for a good cause, easily gained by kissing this young handsome fellow beside me." Laura looked positively puzzled. "I ask you once again: would you please come up here so that we can-"

But Tom Riddle had raised his hand, which immediately silenced Laura and the whispers which had started rising up around Hermione once again. With the other hand still in his pocket, he absentmindedly rubbed his neck and appeared to be in deep thought. Hermione, however, had the feeling that he was simply pulling off a show. A small voice in the back of her head started to mumble something she couldn't quite understand yet. What was this strange feeling in her stomach just supposed to mean?

"Well, maybe 50,000 pounds aren't enough yet", Riddle mused, gently placing his finger under his chin. "After all, this is not how auctions normally work. Someone has to come up with a higher bidding." His eyes traveled to the group of boys who had already kissed one of the girls in the room, and Hermione observed in terror that some of them actually responded to Riddle's suggestion.

She couldn't breathe. Whatever this was, it needed to stop! If this was a dream, she _needed _to wake up!

"55,000."

"65,000."

"No, 80,000 pounds." The one who had said that was a tall blond boy, not as attractive as Riddle, but certainly very handsome. What confused Hermione immensely was the fact that she was pretty sure he didn't even know whom he was actually bidding _for_. He hadn't looked at her _once_, even now he was solely staring at Riddle, whose lips suddenly spread into a very strange, very mysterious smile.

"100,000," he said calmly. "And Ms. Bushy Hair, I'm sorry, but that's my last offer. And certainly the others aren't able to afford more, either."

His eyes met Hermione's once again, and this time she was agonizingly sure that there was no way out of this mess. 100,000 pounds for a single kiss?

To her utter astonishment, she felt herself nod. What was her body doing? She had always thought body and mind created a unity! But even her feet started to betray her as she found herself moving towards the stage, slowly leaving the gaping girls behind her, not daring to look one of them in the eyes.

Obviously Laura had lost her ability to speak over the course of the last minute as well, because she didn't say a word the entire time, just followed Hermione's _Walk-of-Death _with her gaze.

When she reached the front of the – indeed very low – stage, Hermione suddenly realized that Riddle had reached out to help her. After a moment of hesitation, she took the offered hand – and could barely stop herself from taking a step back. His hand was freezing cold!

He seemed to understand immediately that something was wrong and shot her an apologetic look. "Sorry," he murmured close to her ear, sending shivers down Hermione's spine. "I don't know why they're so cold. I hope you don't mind."

She blinked, and in the next second, she found herself beside him, one of his arms lying around her shoulder, drawing her close to the left side of his body. He was nearly a head taller than her, and though he appeared to be rather lean, she could still feel hard layers of muscle through his black T-Shirt.

_Jesus. _What exactly was she _thinking about_?! She cursed herself, wishing that whatever was coming next would soon be over, so that she could simply forget everything what had happened-

"So, what's your name?" asked Laura, who had evidently got over her shock.

She cleared her throat. "Hermione Granger." Good. At least her voice sounded steady. That was more than she could say of her knees.

The murmurs in the hall once again began to increase rapidly.

Yeah, okay. Maybe not only the boys were rather well-known around campus. Maybe some of the girls had also heard of the young genius Hermione Granger, one of the top students at university.

She felt Riddle shifting slightly, and was suddenly stricken by the fact that he was looking at her.

"Granger?" He frowned. "I know that name. I have heard of you before."

"Really?" She looked away then, not really wanting to engage in a conversation with him, mostly because she didn't know how her breathing would react to that. "Well, I'm sorry to say that, but I heard _your _name for the first time."

She felt him stiffen beside her. Oh. Maybe she shouldn't have said that.

But when she found herself looking at his handsome face again, his features showed not a hint of anger.

"That's interesting," he replied, bowing his head. "I'd suggest the funny idea that you're apparently living your life under a stone, but taking your amazing grades into account and the time you most likely spend studying to get them, it's probably not that farfetched to assume that this is actually the case."

Hermione wasn't sure if she had understood him correctly. Surely she must've misheard?! Had he really just _insulted _her for not knowing who he was?

"Care to say that again?"

Before Riddle could repeat himself, Laura clapped her hands. "So then, everyone, prepare for the grand finale." She looked at Hermione and Tom. "The stage is yours!"

Hermione wanted to disappear. To be a ghost. She had never liked kissing people she didn't really know, had never even been fond of giving them a little peck on the cheek. Hell, she didn't even like _touching _people that much, especially not when they were strangers!

While Tom Riddle placed himself in front of her, she tried to ignore the smug smile on his face and to remind her that she was doing this for _a good cause. A good cause. _

_A. Good. Cause!_

And just as he slowly bent down, she thanked God for sending at least someone who was _handsome_, who smelled astonishingly _well, _whose warm breath was… strangely… _intoxicating…_

"_**RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"**_

Hermione gasped in surprise and took a step back, feeling her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

Riddle was not looking at her; his eyes were wandering over the crowd. The girls had started rising from their seats, puzzled looks on their faces. They seemed as surprised as Hermione.

"I'm sorry, guys, but that's the fire alarm." Laura looked around, checking the doors. "Please, use the emergency exits and _don't panic_!" Then she rushed over to Hermione and Tom, giving them a strange look. "We'll see what we'll do with you two later. Please follow the rest of the people and wait outside. I need to find out what has happened." With that, she jumped off the stage and disappeared in the crowd.

Riddle gave Hermione a sideways glance before putting his hands back in his pockets. This seemed to be a habit of him, Hermione observed – and in the next moment chided herself internally for observing him at all.

"Well, that's what I call bad timing," Riddle announced, but she somehow was sure he didn't mean it. She couldn't quite say why – everything from his tone to his expression suggested that he really _was _sorry for not being able to kiss her – but behind all those layers of perfection, Hermione had the feeling that a different reality existed, one which only Tom Riddle himself would know.

_I call that last minute rescue! _Hermione crossed her arms before making her way to the steps that leaded down from the stage, deliberately ignoring the strange feeling which now flooded her entire body and reminded her irritatingly much of _disappointment_. "Maybe next time," she said to Riddle who followed her. She didn't know what else to say, really. All she wanted was to get out of this room and to go home.

Riddle said nothing to that, and Hermione felt herself holding her breath when he raised his voice to say the words she wanted to hear – didn't she? "I'm going to join my friends." He nodded towards the boys who were constantly looking over their shoulders to see if Riddle followed them while they left the room.

"Yeah, sure," was Hermione's reply. She thought she had seen Lavender somewhere as well, though maybe it wasn't the best idea to go to her…

"Would you want to come along?" Riddle asked; but without waiting for an answer, he caught at her arm, being the second person to drag her along that day. His long fingers held her in a firm grip, which gave her no choice but to stumble after him, barely giving her brain time to process what was going on. "I'm sorry, but we really have to hurry, we've already spend far too much time in a house which isn't as safe as it should be right now…"

"What do you mean?" A frown made its way onto Hermione's face, letting her forget that one second ago, she had decided to struggle as much as it needed to make him let go of her.

He looked down at her, mildly irritated. "I don't really know about your definition of 'safety', but as soon as you hear a fire alarm, I hope your brain tells you to leave the building in question as soon as possible."

_Oh, right. The fire alarm. _But, to be honest, that wasn't what Hermione cared about in that moment; what mattered to her, mostly, was the fact that Riddle's words were so similar to the ones she had said to Lavender a few hours ago.

But before she could've kept on thinking about his words, they had reached Riddle's friends – that, being the boys she had earlier seen on the stage and who had joined Riddle in bidding for the kiss she never had wanted to give.

Riddle finally let go of her and Hermione felt her breathing go back to normal. To her surprise, she hadn't even realized that she had had troubles with the function of her lungs.

"Go on, Abraxas," Riddle told the blond boy who was now giving her a small smile. "I certainly don't want to find my death in here just because you were too busy staring at Ms. Granger." Abraxas AND Hermione turned bright red at his words, and she decided to _definitely _leave the group as soon as possible. Lavender would probably understand that she didn't go looking for her.

"You really think there is a fire in here?" murmured a broad-shouldered, black haired boy in front of Hermione.

"I don't know, Cygnus," said Riddle stridently.

"Care to find out, Cy?" Abraxas gave him a wink. Cy just rolled his eyes.

As they made their way through the hallways – along with hundreds of giggling girls – Hermione was pleasantly surprised by the way the boys acted around her. Mostly, they were not spitting out arrogant comment after arrogant comment, which Hermione would've bet on. She felt extremely bad for her prejudices, but honestly: who was so convinced of himself as to join such a completely idiotic thing as this "Charity Kissing Event"? One definitely needed a huge amount of self-confidence for _that_!

The moment they went outside, left the main house of the university behind them and Hermione's lungs filled with fresh air, she finally had the feeling that she calmed down. It was time for her to go home, to put her nose in one, two, oh, three books and spend the rest of the evening trying to forget what had happened.

She turned around to face Riddle, who was standing beside Abraxas, observing what was going on in front of them. Hermione was highly impressed by the way they could ignore the squeaking girls around them, for she herself still had a hard time avoiding all those angry glares.

"I'm going home," she announced, earning an eyebrow-raising from Riddle.

"What about the kiss?"

She felt her stomach fall. "Yeah, about that… don't you think you could choose someone else?"

Now even the boys around her fell silent, looking at her incredulously.

After a long while, Riddle raised his voice. "You don't want to kiss me?"

"No, that's not it, that's not it at all," hurried Hermione to explain herself. "I just… don't want to kiss _anybody_."

Great. At first, Riddle had looked – as so often – mildly puzzled, but – thank god! – not offended. But NOW… he simply looked utterly amused.

At least she was good at making people smile who rarely moved the corners of their lips upwards!

"Well, I hope you don't take me as being rude," Riddle began, crossing his arms in front of him, "but I remember giving a whole lot of money for the chance to kiss _you_, Ms. Granger. I hope you see why I hesitate to grand you your wish."

Hermione waited, internally counting to ten. _PleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE!_

"What about an agreement?"

She shook her head slightly. _What_?

"I pick you up tomorrow morning, 10 am. It's a Saturday, so no excuses like 'I have to attend classes' or something. You're going to spend the day with me, and after that I'll ask you once again if you don't want to kiss me. Keeping the 100,000 pounds in mind, I think that's a fair offer."

Now Hermione was entirely sure she was dreaming. Whatever her unconsciousness was doing to her, it needed to STOP!

She needed to WAKE UP!

Instead, she once again found herself nodding. Against her better judgment.

Just what exactly was happening with her?!

* * *

_And this is where the actual fun begins (which I didn't know up until yesterday, but so what)! :D_

_(By the way, I'm really sorry for not letting them kiss. Except, not really.)_

_Thank you sooooo much for making me want to write more! Special thanks to the following for their reviews, their follows and for favoriting the first chapter within ONE FREAKING day! I couldn't believe my eyes!_

**"Guest", giada, Skatious, Cassie-D1, GoldenAura, Smithback, Periwrinkle, Zeehana, maryn90, xXSlackerByChoiceXx, Mother of All Randomness, Nadeshiko Black, ShadowPrincess1621, Sirina Blackwolf, obsessiveicequeen, slayerb8**

_All of you can be sure of MY eternal gratefulness! ;D_

_Your support means the world to me, even though you might think these words are somehow rather dramatic. I really MEAN them!_

_Hope to see you soon!_

_Herzenlust_


	3. Chapter 3, Part 1

**_Hello everyone! _**

_This is the first part of the third chapter! I'm really sorry, I know it's not that much, but I don't know when I'll be able to update again this week, so I decided I'd just leave you a little something before concentrating on other things again. _

_The rest of the chapter will follow as soon as possible!_

_Thanks again for your nice words and your follows/favorites! It makes me sooooooooo happy! :)_

_Credits will be listed below._

**_Have fun!_**

* * *

The next morning Hermione woke up early.

At first she didn't quite know why she was feeling so unwell – but then everything came rushing back to her and she immediately decided to not leave her bed the entire day.

Lying on her back she looked at the ceiling. Did yesterday _really _happen? Or had it just been a dream after all?

She turned her head to the left, facing a pile of books on her bed table which she had read before going to sleep. That had happened _after _she had said goodbye to Riddle and his friends, meaning that if her life still followed according to a chronological order-

Yesterday had happened indeed.

Hermione groaned, rubbed her eyes and tried to come up with a mental list of her possibilities.

She could _really _just stay in bed all day.

She could get out of bed, but never open the door.

She could get out of bed, open the door and simply tell Riddle that she wasn't feeling well and would rather stay at home.

She could spend the day with him.

An entire day alone with Tom Riddle. The thought alone sent shivers down her spine, and – worst of all – she didn't know why. As far as she could remember, he had done _nothing _to make her feel so insecure – well, aside from choosing to kiss her without leaving her a choice and insulting her with one of his comments.

She rolled her eyes. _Okay_! Maybe she _did _have some reasons to feel uncomfortable around him.

But aside from his odd behavior, Hermione found that something else was bothering her about the guy: she had absolutely no idea what his character was like. Normally she was quite good at seeing the true nature of a person; the first impression she had of someone usually never failed to turn out right in the end. She remembered him being extremely bored – but, honestly, she couldn't blame him. And leaving his strange insult aside, he had been rather nice to her, given the fact that he wasn't acquainted with Hermione at all.

She never intended to judge people without actually _knowing _them; but she always felt more secure when she was able to understand emotions behind words, intentions behind acting.

Hermione sighed. Come to think of it, why had he chosen _her _for this stupid kiss? The question lingered on her mind, and it frustrated her immensely to not be able to find a possible answer to it. He had said that he wanted to make her smile. Well, surely that was one way to see it. But Hermione couldn't shake off the feeling that Tom Riddle had had a plan… some mysterious aim he had wanted to achieve…

_Nonsense! _What was she even thinking?! Why would he do that?!

She definitely needed to stop thinking about that matter. About _him_.

But after helping herself to some coffee, she suddenly found herself sitting in front of her laptop, typing "Tom Riddle" into the search bar of her browser.

* * *

"The newspaper?"

"On your table, Sir."

"That would be everything, Ginny. You can leave."

"As you wish, Sir."

Riddle slowly sat down behind his desk, feeling the warm rays of the early morning sun tickling his right cheek.

_I need to get new curtains, _he thought, picked up the newspaper and studied the headlines absentmindedly.

He was in an extraordinarily bad mood today. And he knew why.

Her words still echoed in his ears.

_Well, I'm sorry to say that, but I heard _your _name for the first time._

Your _name for the first time._

_For the first time._

**FIRST TIME!**

He tossed the newspaper away, letting out a low grunt. Just how oblivious to her surroundings was that stupid little girl?!

Riddle had thought he had made himself popular. He had thought he could continue with the next step.

He was disappointed, and a disappointed Tom Riddle led to an angry Tom Riddle.

Now he actually had to pull off the plan of _getting to know her_! He clenched his jaw. That certainly hadn't been part of his former plan. That just meant losing _time _he actually wasn't willing to sacrifice.

What bothered him most was her apparent _unwillingness _to get any closer to him. What had he done to her? _Nothing_! What would he do to her?

Well. That was something he didn't know yet. But if she continued to act against any kind of better judgment, he wouldn't be able to control his anger any longer. Riddle wasn't used to people trying to avoid him – normally they were as attracted to him as moths to the light. But that Granger girl…

He cursed inwardly. If that damn fire alarm hadn't gone off, things surely would've been easier for him. Riddle had _felt _that even Granger – despite having a very high functioning brain – couldn't resist him if he managed to get closer to her. But that action in itself hadn't been quite as simple as he had imagined it to be.

Somewhere in making his plans he had taken the wrong turn. Where had that been?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Riddle slowly released his breath and tried to smooth his features.

"Come in, Cygnus," he said, watching the dark haired boy while he nervously entered the room, looking at the floor.

"You called, Master?" Cygnus folded his hands in front of him. Riddle's mood heightened. Well, at least this boy acted the way Riddle wanted him to.

"You're going to join Granger and me today," Riddle explained, looking out of the window. "It's going to be a sunny day, and it would be a shame to drag her right into this house." A dark smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "That will happen soon enough. So I need you to come with me."

"May I ask something, Master?"

Riddle nodded slowly.

"What are we going to do? And why do I need to come along?"

He closed his eyes, leaning back on his chair. "We're going to go on a little hiking tour, so you better prepare yourself for that." He mentally counted to ten before raising his voice again. "And I want you to come along because Miss Granger will certainly try to find a way to maneuver herself out of this very uncomfortable situation. But if she's not going to be alone with me, I hope she'll change her mind. I would prefer to take Abraxas with me, but he has just left for Paris… you are the number two on my list."

He nearly heard Cygnus swallow. "As you wish, Master."

"Very well, then. You can leave. But don't be late. I expect you at 9:30am in front of the house. I trust I can rely on your… punctuality."

"Of course, Master." With that, Cygnus turned around and left the room, leaving behind a very quiet Tom Riddle who was close to losing himself in his thoughts once again.

* * *

_Credits go to:_

**joyceliao01****, ****GoldenAura, Cassie-D1, ****Gimana Nanti51****, Smithback, ****"****Guest #1, #2", Zeehana, crescendoll, CatastropheOfEquilibrium, Danish Fantasy Girl, Edge of Sanity, Periwrinkle, Savannah Malfoy, Supereggbox, kabukienigma, maryn90, miscalculation, xXSlackerByChoiceXx, CassieRenee333, Danigirl84, DeathEaterGroupie722, LoveThisAwesomeBrat, Mother of All Randomness, Nadeshiko Black, RARRRRRR, RavenOrozco, Roxolana5, ShadowPrincess1621, Sirina Blackwolf, Skatious, The Butterfly Dreamer, TheNarglesStoleMySoul, darkwinterrose, kathygomez26, lildevil0644, moutonx, obsessiveicequeen, redScate, slayerb8, suzy96**

_No matter what you do – review, follow, favorite – I love you! _

_Thank you!_

_Hope to see you soon!_

_Herzenslust_


	4. Chapter 3, part 2

_Here's the rest of chapter 3! :) Enjoy! _

_(I'm sorry for all the possible mistakes. It's quite late over here, but I wanted to finish this one today. So… here you go!)_

* * *

"_Meeting a Genius – The life of Tom Riddle Jr._

_He is young, he is painfully handsome, he is awfully rich – and incredibly intelligent._

_Without a doubt, Tom Riddle belongs to the elite of this country. _

_Not only being the last heir to the royal name of Slytherin, but also the only child of the already deceased businessman Tom Riddle Sr., young Riddle's stand in the world is full of responsibilities. _

_Finishing school at the incredible age of 16 (due to being one of the brightest kids in the country, as nationwide competitions have shown), Riddle started his career at university rather early, while at the same time taking over his dead father's positions as a business consultant in various companies all over the world, helping them to double most of their yearly income._

_The question how Riddle is able to maintain his position as one of the top students of his university is probably going to stay a mystery forever – no one knows when he finds the time to learn. His professors claim he never needs to study, he just "gets it by looking at it once" – though not a day goes by when you don't see him with a book under his arm. _

_Even though he looks like a Greek god, the young man prefers to spend his time alone in his manor house in Little Hangleton, a small village nearby. According to fellow students, he rarely visits parties or goes out with friends, which makes him a popular mystery everyone would like to solve – not only the girls! _

"_He keeps certain people close," states a student. "But he normally holds everyone at arm's length."_

_Who are those people Riddle "keeps close"? This question is easier to answer than others: boys like Abraxas Malfoy, Cygnus Black, Antonin Dolohov, Rabastan Lestrange, and Alexio Avery are often seen hanging around him – all of them being either royal or a child of an influential family._

_Tom Riddle, the polite, handsome young man who knows what he wants. He seems to be content with the life of a quiet genius; he doesn't like to feel the public eye on him. _

_But who knows? Maybe we'll be able to interview him one day. When he has become the next Prime Minister, he certainly won't get around talking to the press._

_We can wait._

_Rita Skeeter"_

* * *

She heard a knock on the door.

Without hesitation Hermione went to open it.

On the other side stood a slightly surprised looking Tom Riddle, and behind him an apparently bored Cygnus Black.

"Give me a second, I'm just going to get my stuff." Hermione turned around, grabbed her bag and her keys and went back to Riddle and Black. Only then it was that she saw what they were wearing… _Hiking boots_?!

She stopped and raised her brows, before her eyes traveled upwards to meet Riddle's mildly amused look.

"What are we going to do?" she asked warily, though she already knew the answer.

"Isn't that obvious?" Riddle retorted, and Hermione could tell that he was trying to suppress a laugh. She probably looked as if he had told her that she wasn't allowed to use the library for two days. "We go on a little hiking tour."

"Now, that's what I call _time well spent_." Hiking. She _hated _hiking. Who had come up with this _stupid _idea?!

Oh, right. Probably the genius himself.

"You don't seem all too pleased," Riddle observed, folding his arms behind his back. "You don't want to come along?"

"Of course I want to," Hermione answered, maybe a bit _too _fast. She froze on the spot. That had been a mistake. Now all she could hope for was that Riddle wouldn't get suspicious.

She thought she saw something flicker in his eyes – but in the next moment, the strange look was gone and Riddle bowed his head.

"I take that as a compliment." The corners of his mouth wandered upwards, allowing Hermione's heartbeat to go back to normal. "Then let's not waste any time. Do you have hiking boots? I don't think wearing sneakers will do you any good…"

She shook her head. "No. I normally prefer to spend my time indoors, so I never saw the necessity of buying… hiking boots." She wasn't sure if she had ever used the word. It felt strange in her mouth.

Honestly. _Hiking_. Hermione Granger rarely found the time to do anything else than studying; if she did, she _still _spend her time surrounded by books because _that _was her hobby! Why would anyone want to go hiking if there were so many more _useful _things one could do?!

Riddle took a step back and indicated her to go first. Black, who hadn't said a word the entire time, just seemed to wish to be somewhere else. Hermione couldn't blame him.

But she needed to go.

_She_ _had to go._

* * *

"By the way," Riddle began after sitting down beside her in the backseat of his black Mercedes and telling his driver where he should drop them off. "Nice… _flat_ you have there."

"Oh, _please!_" Hermione rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the sensation of feeling his left leg pressed against her right one. This was not what she was here for, after all! "I know it's tiny and that you're used to… other things."

His eyebrows went up. "Oh. I conclude you did some research, then."

Hermione felt herself blush – and cursed inwardly. Why was it always so easy for everyone to see through her?!

Ah, right. Because she was incredibly crappy at behaving unsuspicious.

She had the feeling that lying would do her no good, so she simply changed the truth slightly. "Maybe I found an article about you on the Internet." She couldn't bare to look at him, so she turned her head to the left – just to see Black shaking his head in amusement.

Great. So she really _was _good at making bored people happy. What an unexpected talent!

"You really shouldn't read about Tom on the Internet," Black told her, and Hermione felt Riddle shaking beside her. Was he _laughing_?!

She turned her head around once again, just to find that, yes, Riddle was indeed laughing silently, his finger resting under his chin. But something bothered Hermione about his laugh. It didn't seem…

_genuine_.

"Why not?" she asked Black who just shook his head once again.

"Because what you find on there is completely made up," responded not Black, but Riddle. He had stopped laughing and was looking out of the window. "They don't have confirmed information, so all they do write is either a good guess or something even they don't think is true."

Hermione thought about that for a moment.

"So you're not royal?"

"Well, yes, I am-"

"You're not rich?"

"I do have a lot of money, that's right-"

"And you're not one of the top students at university?"

"_Of course I am!_" Now he looked as if she had insulted him. Oh, great.

"Then I don't know why you're saying that they make things up."

Riddle slowly let out his breath. "I think we're here."

"What?" Hermione blinked in bemusement.

Riddle just gave her a smirk. "What I mean is that we can get off this car and start our little hiking tour."

Right. She had nearly forgotten about that. How utterly unpleasant.

At least the sun was shining.

Hermione sighed.

"Black really likes nature, doesn't he?" asked Hermione. She had completely lost sight of their companion and had a hard time keeping up Riddle's pace.

"Oh no, he doesn't," answered Riddle, and there was not a hint of exhaustion in his voice. Hermione's mood dropped.

"But you do?"

"Actually no, not really."

"_Then why are we out here?!"_ She couldn't suppress her anger any longer. After wandering around for about 4 hours straight she had nearly reached her limit. All she wanted to do was to sit down and never move again in her entire life.

"Because," Riddle replied smoothly, "I thought _you_ would like nature."

Hermione frowned. "Now, enlighten me: why would you think _that_?"

"As far as I know, you originally started off studying Biology before changing your course of studies. Am I right? Well, I figured this would mean you have a… _soft spot_ for nature."

Hermione froze. _What? _

_How did he-_

Riddle had turned around and was now looking at her. Hermione suddenly was very glad for the space that lay between them.

"I have my sources," he explained with a slightly arrogant smirk, as if he had read her thoughts. Ah. So he was he aware of the fact that he actually wasn't supposed to know about that piece of information.

"_Sources_?" Hermione echoed, still trying to comprehend what was going on. "Why would your _sources _tell you something about my background?!"

Riddle looked at the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets. "You see, they _tell _me about your background because I _ask_ them about your background. That's how those things normally work. At least in my world. I don't know about yours."

She still felt as if someone had turned off the lights in her head. What he was saying made absolutely no sense. Why would he want to find out about her past? Did that mean that he…?

"Why?" She heard herself intone. This couldn't be happening! After everything she had done to prevent such a situation as this one… everything was about to be destroyed! And it was so easy for him, so easy to corner her…

What would she do, then? How would she answer him?! The same way she had told her professor why she needed to stop?

Riddle raised his voice. Hermione felt in shock that her hands were shaking. Hastily, she put them behind her back.

"I wanted to know about you, of course," Riddle explained, slowly taking a step towards her. "I wanted to know some things about you before meeting you a second time. I wondered if we would have enough to talk about." He gave her a wry smile. "But I guess we do, because I really want to ask you something."

Hermione was prepared. She knew what she would tell him.

The truth. It was the only acceptable thing.

"Why did you stop studying Biology and continued with Literature instead? Isn't that a little far-fetched?"

Hermione felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach.

_That _was _not _what she had prepared herself for. No.

She had expected _worse_. Hermione nearly wanted to laugh as relief washed over her.

"Oh, I just found out that Biology isn't my – how did you put it? – _soft spot_. I liked it, but not enough to spend the rest of my life with it."

His eyebrows went up once again. "And Literature… fulfills you? Makes you happy?"

She nodded. "Indeed."

They were very close now; Hermione hadn't even realized that he had came _that_close. She started to feel uncomfortable again. Worst of all, she could see that his highly functioning brain had picked up the work and started processing what she had just said. What if he wouldn't be satisfied with her answer?

She _had _to change the subject. As soon as possible.

"Eh… Tom?" she began, looking at his handsome face which he had tilted upwards slightly.

"Uh," was the only response she got. God, what was he thinking about?! He needed to _stop_! He needed to _look _at her. If he would continue thinking about… _whatever _it was, he would find out. Hermione was sure of that.

So she did the only logical thing which sprang to her mind.

Her last minute rescue.

She took a step forward – and kissed him.

For about ten seconds, Hermione didn't know where her body ended and where his began. She wasn't sure where to locate the sky – was it above or beneath her? How could she even see it when she had shut her eyes so hard it nearly hurt?

And did it even matter?

What she was feeling was a strange mixture of fear, horror, guilt – and excitement. She had never kissed a stranger. In fact, she had never kissed anyone besides Ron at all!

She had obviously surprised Riddle, but Hermione had the vague feeling that he was _used _to situations like these, which ultimately let her to doubt whether her actions had any kind of effect on the function of his brain. She herself felt her own mind slowly picking up the work again, while Riddle's mouth moved lightly over her lips.

They broke apart after about half a minute, leaving Hermione slightly breathless.

Riddle's hair looked strangely messy. Wait. Had _she _done that? But… she didn't even remember! What had her hands been doing?!

Hermione wanted to vanish. Where had the stupid idea to kiss him even come from? What was _wrong_ with her?!

Riddle cleared his throat. "Well. I guess my 100,000 pounds were well invested."

Hermione felt herself turn bright red.

Tom Riddle was a bad influence. Of that much she was sure.

* * *

_Credits go to:_

**Gimana Nanti51, Zeehana, Golden Aura, Smithback, la-femme-cavalier, Jcst, giada, real talk, Anonymous Presence, Cassie-D1, Nero Basterdino, CatastropheOfEquilibrium, Danish Fantasy Girl, Edge of Sanity, Periwrinkle, Savannah Malfoy, SourlessCherryxx, Supereggbox, UnattainableDarkAngel, kabukienigma, krax0607, maryn90, miscalculation, princess-alice-malfoy-granger, xXSlackerByChoiceXx, skyONflames, B-Mine, Bertoeshie, CassieRenee333, ClaryxJace614, Danigirl84, DeathEaterGroupie722, Eirini, FluffyAnnoyingBunBun, Held Together With Tape, JetBlackStare, KaTeRiNa MaLfOy, LoveThisAwesomeBrat, MRSDARRENCRISS589, Minitiki, Mother of All Randomness, Nadeshiko Black, RARRRRRR, RavenOrozco, Roxolana5, Senbonzakura Kageioshi, ShadowPrincess1621, Sirina Blackwolf, Skatious, The Butterfly Dreamer, TheNarglesStoleMySoul, bnorgren13, darkwinterrose, kathygomez26, lildevil0644, moutonx, obsessiveicequeen, redScate, sakura-kaede, slayerb8, suzy96**

_I tried to read the list without breathing while doing so._

_As you can imagine – it didn't work. Which makes me soooooooo happy! :D (Not that I can't breath, but that there are so many people reading my story!)_

_I'm so overwhelmed! Thank you!_

_Oh, there is something else I wanted to tell you: from now on I'll try to announce when I'll upload the next chapter. You can go check out the date on my profile, if you want to know when you have to drop by to continue reading. ;) I can't promise that these dates will always be accurate, though. But I'll give my best! :)_

_See you soon! _

_Lots of love! _

_Herzenslust _


	5. Chapter 4

_Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter. I know I'm late, and I'm sorry for that. _

_I hope you'll like what's coming your way. You're going to meet a very special person…_

_Credits are (as always) listed below; **HOWEVER, **before you start reading**, **I want to introduce you to an awesome person who has just joined "Team Herzenslust": **the one and only **_**ANONYMOUS PRESENCE**_! She is going to make sure that you guys don't have to deal with too many mistakes and is TCWM's new Beta Reader!_

_Honey, be sure of my eternal love! Your help means the world to me! :)_

_And now: ENJOY! :)_

* * *

Gellert Grindelwald couldn't suppress a laugh. "So that's what he has been up to lately. Honestly, what is he thinking?!"

"It's working, Sir."

He blinked. _What?_

Grindelwald made his way to his chair and sat down slowly with every motion controlled, fully aware of the pairs of eyes that were fixed on him.

"And you are so sure of that, because…?"

She cleared her throat. "Because I've seen it."

"_What _did you see, Maya?" Impatience started to build itself up in his stomach. He could feel it.

"He chose her at the Kissing Event-"

"I know that much."

"-and the way she looked at him… it's safe to say that she can't resist him. She's a _girl_."

Grindelwald shot her a mildly surprised look. "_You _were able to resist him. That's why you came to me, if I recall correctly. And as far as I can tell, you're a _girl_, too."

Maya turned bright red. "Yes, but I'm stronger than most of them."

A small smile tugged at his lips. "And what tells you that Hermione Granger isn't strong?"

Maya fell silent. "I don't know," she said finally, involuntarily meeting his eyes. After some seconds, she corrected herself hastily. "I can't explain it."

Grindelwald thought for some time, absentmindedly inspecting the table in front of him. Really, Riddle was always such a _nuisance_. The boy appeared to be constantly plotting whatever gave him the feeling of power and control – certainly a habit Grindelwald could relate to. But in his opinion, one brilliant mastermind was definitely enough. Riddle started to repeatedly lay stones in his way. That certainly had to stop.

_He _would _make _it _stop_.

"So, who can tell me something about Hermione Granger, besides being rather well known for her intelligence and knowledge?" Grindelwald looked around, and saw how everyone firmly stared in different directions. Honestly, sometimes he asked himself what these guys really were _good _for.

But before he could start complaining, Markus had raised his voice. "Her parents are dentists."

Grindelwald snorted. "Thank you very much, Markus. Your participations in our conversations never fail to amuse me." He crossed his arms in front of him. "Is there anything _else _you can tell me? Something… with a bit more _value_?"

Markus had shrunk in his chair, while the others around him had started laughing. But as he began again, they fell silent. "She started off studying Biology with me, but about half a year ago she decided to switch her course of studies and went for Literature instead."

_Oh. _That was actually _interesting_.

"Why's that?" Grindelwald leaned forward, unfolding his arms. "Biology and Literature? Interesting combination."

"I don't know for sure, Sir. There are rumors… rumors that she _found _something."

"_That she found something?"_ repeated Grindelwald, slightly shaking his head. "Now, what would that be?"

"No one knows, Sir."

A sudden pang of anger flooded through Grindelwald. He sprang to his feet.

"The combination of the words "don't" and "know" is starting to bother me _immensely_," he whispered, dangerously quiet. He felt the atmosphere in the room slowly shifting to one which he definitely liked: the smell of _fear _hung in the air. "I'll ask you all one last time before you go back to work and create a list of facts about Hermione Granger which is going to make me understand why Riddle is so interested in her: is there anything else of value that you know about her?"

"She comes to see me from time to time," said a quiet and very relaxed sounding voice from the far end of the table.

Grindelwald held his breath before releasing it slowly.

"Good. In that case, I want to talk to you, Albus. _Alone_. The rest can go and start _working_. I will not accept an 'I don't know' next time we gather here, do you understand?"

Everyone nodded.

* * *

Her jaw fell open.

"Nothing special," Riddle assured her. "It was my father's house. When he died, it became mine." He shrugged.

Hermione swallowed, tilted her head back – and felt _really _small. She rarely had seen anything _so huge_! She had known that he lived in a mansion – but _this _could've easily been called a _palace_.

Once again she found herself asking the question which lingered in her mind since their trip had started: _why was she still here_?!

Right. She had no car. No way to escape. And her feet hurt. And she was tired. And she wanted a coffee. She _needed _a coffee. She needed it so _badly _that she had even forgotten about what had happened an hour earlier.

The kiss – better known as _the worst idea of all time_. Afterwards, Riddle had not once stopped grinning his evil grin, making Hermione feel incredibly nervous and uncomfortable. They had continued their walk until a house – _his palace – _had come in sight. The two of them had finally caught up with Black who was already waiting for them in front of the building.

His pale face had changed its color and was currently shining in a bright red tone. Hermione knew what he probably was feeling like – she doubted the color of her own face was the same as usual, either. She felt close to hyperventilating.

"And you actually _live _here?" Hermione couldn't imagine what one was supposed to _do _with so much space.

He cocked his head to the side. "Interesting question. I prefer sleeping in the doghouse in the garden, but unfortunately they refrain from bringing me the food outside, so once in a while, yes, one could say I'm _forced _to live in this house."

Hermione rolled her eyes, before she repeated his words in her head. "Wait… who's 'they'?"

Riddle nodded in Black's direction. The boy had raised his hand. "That would be me, then. Well, not just me. The rest are probably inside, doing whatever they normally do…"

"You _serve _Riddle?" Hermione asked incredulously. What was he? Some sort of _servant_?!

Black shot Riddle a look, before he started to inspect the ground. "I wouldn't call it _serving_. But if we didn't bring him his food, Tom would probably forget about eating completely."

"Eating is overrated." Riddle glanced at his watch. "Though I think if we go inside now, we might manage to get the leftovers of the afternoon tea."

"I don't really care for tea," said Hermione. "But I'd love to get a coffee."

Riddle raised his left eyebrow. "Oh, really? You know, coffee is not good for you. Tea is the much healthier option."

Hermione snorted, but couldn't bring herself to yet another round of arguing with Riddle.

Really, what was she _thinking_? What had she _done_?

And most importantly: _why _had she done it?

As they made their way inside, the sick feeling in her stomach didn't cease. She was pretty sure if she really _wanted _to go, there _would_ be a way for her. So _why _was she staying?

Hermione was so lost in thoughts that she barely marveled at the beauty of the house. Riddle and Black led her to a huge dining room, and she absentmindedly sat down opposite to the person she had kissed two hours earlier; the _third _person _ever _in her life to receive a kiss from her.

"Are you alright?" Black asked, catching Hermione's attention by doing so. She blinked.

"Yeah, of course," she answered. "Why?"

"Because I just asked you what you'd want to eat and you didn't answer." Black leaned back on his chair and crossed his legs.

Hermione felt Riddle's eyes on her – and she was pretty sure he could see right through her. Whatever she was thinking, whatever kept her mind busy: she felt like it was completely exposed to his knowledge.

The only interesting point left to know was: _did _he know? And _if _he knew: why was he playing games?

"I don't want to eat anything, thank you. I'd just like to get a coffee."

"We already ordered that, but obviously you were so lost in thoughts you didn't notice."

_Ordered?_ So someone had been there to actually _take _their _order_?! Hermione bit her lips. Goodness, she really needed to concentrate on not leaving the Here and Now again!

"So, I heard your parents are dentists?" Black sounded amused, as if the fact that her parents saw teeth every day was incredibly entertaining.

She felt herself blush while her eyes involuntarily traveled over to meet Riddle's dark gaze. _He _didn't seem amused; to be precise, his beautiful features didn't show even a _hint_ of emotion.

"Yes, they are," she finally answered, turning back to Black who had crossed his arms in front of him. A smirk appeared on his face. "And yours?" shot Hermione, feeling a pang of anger deep down in her stomach. What was so funny about her parents being dentists?!

"My father's the head of a rather well known telecommunications company," he told her, and for the first time, Hermione thought she heard arrogance in his voice. Was this what he normally sounded like? "My mother works there as well. It's a… family business."

"So you're going to work there as well?"

Black nodded. "Of course. I'm going to take over my father's position one day."

Hermione, who saw that her coffee was arriving, tugged her hair behind her ears. "Do you want to?"

"What?" Black blinked irritated and looked over at Riddle, who met his gaze with a cool calmness.

"I asked if you want to take over your father's position in the business," Hermione repeated, sipping at her coffee. God, it felt so _good!_ The warm liquid flooded through her throat and she relaxed instantly.

"I… _of course I want to!_" Black snapped, shooting her a look that was almost hateful.

"No need to get angry, Black," Riddle reminded him quietly. "By the way, if you want to, you can leave now."

What?! _NO!_

But Black just nodded, took his tea, stood up, and stalked out of the room.

They were alone.

Again.

* * *

"I don't see how your silence is going to help me, Albus," said Grindelwald, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I thought I could rely on you."

Dumbledore smiled brightly. "Oh no, Gellert. You know I'm obligated to secrecy. I could never tell you."

They were walking side by side through the gardens behind Maya's house. It was a nice day – birds were singing, the sun was shining, everything was rather _peaceful_ – everything except for Grindelwald's mind.

"Then what on earth am I supposed to do with the information that she visits you from time to time?" Grindelwald couldn't hide his frustration.

Dumbledore shrugged. "I don't know. Realize that she is a human being? That she has problems she is struggling with? That maybe you should leave her alone?"

Grindelwald sighed. "As long as Riddle is interested in her, I can't leave her alone. You know that."

"We certainly have to keep an eye on Tom Riddle; but not on the poor souls he chooses to make his projects." Dumbledore had crossed his arms in front of him and lowered his head. "Have you heard what he did to the Averys lately?"

"Yeah," Grindelwald answered, grimacing. "But I don't really care. Everyone who follows Riddle blindly deserves bad treatment."

"I'm sad to hear that this is what you think," said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh _please._ Don't bring that subject up again." Grindelwald stopped, watching Dumbledore's back while he continued walking. "Spare me."

"That's exactly what I was planning to do," said the tall man over his shoulder, the only person on earth Gellert Grindelwald thought to be his _friend_.

"Fine." Grindelwald started walking again, watching a small black cat trying to attack a bird which was looking for something to eat on the ground.

He smiled. That was exactly what he was going to do. He'd be the black cat; he'd jump at the much smaller bird as soon as it had found what it was so desperately looking for. He would tear the bird apart.

And then he'd deal with Hermione Granger himself.

"You look rather satisfied." Dumbledore had turned around and was staring at Grindelwald skeptically. "I don't like it."

Grindelwald raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't my happiness mean something to you, Albus?"

He was surprised when he thought he saw Dumbledore blush. What was going on in his friend's head?!

"Don't start an open war, Gellert," Dumbledore told him in a very quiet voice.

"It will come anyway."

"But I don't want it to be you who starts it." Now the man's voice was strong and firm, his shining blue eyes reflecting Grindelwald's own face. "This is insane."

"Yeah," Grindelwald agreed. "But necessary. And I _will win_. Whatever it takes."

Dumbledore said nothing to that. Suddenly, he looked incredibly sad – though Grindelwald considered it would not be worth mentioning.

The two of them continued their walk – but if Grindelwald had turned around, he would've seen that the small bird had managed to get away with a worm in its beak, leaving the cat on the ground miserably staring after it.

* * *

_Credits go to:_

**Zehana, GoldenAura, SourlessCherryxx, Cassie-D1, N, giada, The all mighty and powerfulM, karlaispaja, Mother of All Randomness, kieli13, CatastropheOfEquilibrium, Danish Fantasy Girl, DepressedAleera, Edge of Sanity, Gimana Nanti51, Jsct, Katarin Kishika, Nero Basterdino, Periwrinkle, SUNSHINGIRL, Savannah Malfoy, Supereggbox, UnattainableDarkAngel, alex-hp7, kabukienigma, krax0607, maryn90, miscalculation, pormilnoches, princess-alice-malfoy-granger, xXSlackerByChoiceXx, skyONflames, Amiami, B-Mine, Bertoeshie, Cadaverica72, CassieRenee333, ClaryxJace614, Danigirl84, DeathEaterGroupie722, Edwardloverforever7, Eirini, FluffyAnnoyingBunBun, Held Together With Tape, GalanthaDreams, JetBlackStare, KaTeRiNa MaLfOy, Kate Elizabeth Black, Knightmare09, LoveThisAwesomeBrat, MRSDARRENCRISS589, Midnight sky494, Minitiki, Nadeshiko Black, RARRRRRR, RavenOrozco, RedtailHawk19, Roxolana5, Senbonzakura Kageioshi, ShadowPrincess1621, Sirina Blackwolf, Skatious, Snakefang, Specularia, The Butterfly Dreamer, TheNarglesStoleMySoul, ThePandaHat, UnattainableDarkAngel, Verspersrain, , bnorgren13, darkwinterrose, jballerina25, jewelofdawn14, justagirloutthere, kabukienigma, kathygomez26, led-doors, lildevil0644, moutonx, obsessiveicequeen, redScate, sakura-kaede, scribblybits, slayerb8, suzy96**

_As always, I love you so much for reading and supporting the story! But I must admit: I'm not sure how long I'll be able to continue giving credits to EVERYONE, because someday the credits might be longer than the actual chapter. :D But for now, I'll just continue to list ALL OF YOU AWESOME PEOPLE! :) We'll see what will happen in the future. Just know that I love you, 'kay? :) _

_See you soon!_

_Herzenslust_


	6. Chapter 5

_Hello everyone! :)_

_Here's the next chapter - this time, I'm just one day late! Isn't that awesome?! No? Okay. Sorry. *hides behind the next corner*_

_I hope you enjoy it. It's longer than the last one - and before you start reading I have to tell you one thing (as always, I guess you're already getting used to me not being able to keep my mouth shut!): this version **hasn****'t been corrected** yet. So you'll probably find looooaaaaads (**hopefully NOT!**) of mistakes in it. I'll take care of them as soon as the lovely **Anonymous Presence **sends me her corrections. Since she's not just sitting around waiting for me to finally get s**t done but also has a life of her own, I don't know when that'll be. I decided to upload the chapter anyway, because university is just about to start again here in Germany and I'm not sure when I'll find the time to upload the next chapter. But I'll try to get it out as fast as possible. _

_Okay. That's that. Thanks for being so patient. :)_

_Have fun!_

* * *

"Cookie?" Riddle pointed at the plate which had been placed on the table between them.

Hermione shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry."

After a moment of silence Riddle shrugged and leaned forward. Hermione flinched, but in the next moment she felt relief washing over her when she saw that he just wanted to help himself to a cookie. Riddle, however, had noticed her sudden motion, and a dark smile spread over his face.

"May I remind you that it isn't me who jumps at people and kisses them without any kind of warning?" He took a small bite, and his eyes bored into hers.

Hermione was pretty sure that her face resembled a tomato again.

"Look, I'm really sorry I did that." She bit down on her lip and watched him while he ate the _goddamn _cookie. How could someone look so _sensuous _while eating a _bloody COOKIE_?! It wasn't fair.

"You don't need to apologize." Finally, he broke the eye contact and very slowly crossed his arms in front of him. "It's not like it hasn't happened before. Besides, I recall paying quite a lot of money to receive a kiss from you. So I guess you just paid your debt."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Though, I wonder…"

When he didn't continue speaking, she frowned. "You wonder about _what_?"

He placed a long finger under his chin and looked out of the window. "I wonder why you decided to kiss me _then_."

He knew.

He knew, he knew, he knew.

_HE KNEW!_

Her brain started racing. Should she simply tell the truth? But what if she was wrong? What if he _didn't _know about what had happened half a year ago? Then telling him the truth would be the most stupid thing she could possibly do…

No. She needed to lie. She needed to get him off her back. And then she needed to disappear. Desperately she started to search her brain for a good excuse, for something he would _believe_…

Within seconds, she had come up with the – in her opinion – most obvious reason.

"Well, because you're good looking and I didn't want to wait any longer."

Then, she leaned back. And stared. At him, at the table, at the ceiling… and after some time, she found that even she didn't believe what she had just said.

_Great. _That had sounded _way _better in her head.

Riddle had raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Well, maybe he had to assume that she _was _telling the truth. He couldn't prove her wrong, could he? That was, as long as he didn't know the _real _reason why she had kissed him…

But if they already were at it…

"I guess it's my turn to ask you something now." Suddenly, she felt really brave. Where the hell did that come from?!

Even Riddle seemed surprised. Wasn't he used to people asking him questions? "Ehm… sure." But he didn't sound _sure_. He sounded skeptical.

_What was going on?_

"Why me?"

"Pardon me?"

"Why did you choose me?" Hermione repeated, looking him straight into the dark eyes which gave away nothing of what the guy in front of her was feeling and thinking. "You could've chosen _anyone_. I'm neither pretty nor fun to be with. And you don't know me. So, why me?"

Riddle looked at her for a moment, his eyes traveling over her face. This time, however, Hermione had the feeling that he _couldn't _see right through her.

So, there it was. She had found something as well. Something he didn't want to talk about. Something she wasn't supposed to know. But what if…

"Because you're intelligent."

… the reason he chose her was the same as the thing no one was allowed to know?

They stood up at the same time. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room had changed; the strange sensation of her nerves screaming _DANGER _in a million voices let her skin prickle.

"I should go now."

He lightly shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"What?!" She wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly.

Panic started to build itself up in her stomach, which made Hermione feel like a trapped animal, like easy prey. Riddle stood in front of her, his head cocked to one side. He was so much taller than her; she felt like a weak dwarf.

_Don't let it show!_

"Listen." To her own surprise, her voice sounded steady and full of anger. She would allow _no one _on this earth to make her feel trapped. _No one _would ever have that much power over her; especially not someone whom she barely knew! Seriously, what was Riddle thinking?! "I want to go now. And I really don't know why you feel obliged to block the way out, but honestly, I don't really care. All I want is to go home. And you will let me."

"Who said I'm blocking your way out?" answered Riddle quietly, frowning.

Her stomach made a strange loop. "You," she answered sharply, flipping her hair back.

He raised his hands as if to ward her off.

_Wait_. Who had behaved like a strange psychopath just ten seconds ago?

Irritated, she narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together. What game was he playing?  
Finally, he raised his voiced. He sounded as if he spoke to a little, frightened child. "Hermione, I never said I wouldn't let you go. I just said that I don't think you should because the cook of the house makes delicious meals and it's time for dinner soon." With his hands still up, he slowly took a few steps back and made his way to the door which led to the entrance hall. "But if you wish, I'll tell my driver to take you home. No need to get aggressive."

Liar. _Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar!_

… But what if Riddle _was_ telling the truth? What if she was slowly getting insane and paranoid?

Hermione nodded, trying to stop her hands from shaking. When her efforts didn't work, she hid them behind her back, feeling how the heat slowly started to climb up into her cheeks.

"Then I want to go home," she said in a quiet voice. "Please."

* * *

Her room welcomed her with silence. Hermione was so grateful for finally being home that tears started to build themselves up in the corners of her eyes.

What a horrible day! Horrible, horrible, _horrible _day!

Leaving her clothes on, she climbed into her bed and under the blankets. She wanted to sleep. To forget about her behavior which probably had given away more than her words could've ever done.

Hermione closed her eyes and tried to think of something nice. Within seconds, a groan escaped her lips, and she remembered that there was nothing nice to think about – her whole life was a mess at the moment.

_She _was a mess.

She did things she didn't like with people she didn't like, just because she had found something which could change the world, and had decided that it was necessary to lock a part of her away in order to safe everyone who was dear to her. She had created a completely new Hermione, someone who still loved books, but engaged herself in modern literature rather than in scientific writing. Someone who still was intelligent, but had stopped researching. Someone who had lost her old friends and her boyfriend, because they couldn't understand why she had changed.

Someone who was Hermione, but had stopped being Hermione.

Opening her eyes again, she stared at the ceiling, watching the last rays of the warm evening sun slowly disappear. The last time she had did that had been half a year ago: thinking about what was right and what was wrong. Everything had seemed clear to her then. She had been sure she had chosen the right path. Everything else had seemed so utterly _wrong_, so _selfish_, so _dangerous_.

Since then, she had tried to not give her thoughts too much space, to always keep her brain busy with work and other distractions. But since yesterday, everything had changed.

Because of _him_.

So why not change her priorities? Maybe fighting for her secret was useless now; if Riddle knew, there would be no way to force him not to share it with anybody.

No. She needed to come up with a new plan. Something that would make her feel better and help her to regain some of the lost control.

But _how_?

She needed to talk to someone. She needed to hear her thoughts spoken out aloud. She needed them to echo through the room, to bounce off the walls, to embrace her, and finally tell her what to do.

Hermione fumbled for her phone on the night table. When she found it, she dialed a number, held the phone to her ear – and waited.

Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds.

Finally, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"I'm screwed, Albus." She gritted her teeth and felt her heart hammer in her chest.

There was a short pause on the other side. Then, his voice said in a worried tone, "_Hermione_? What happened?"

And Hermione started explaining.

She told him about Riddle, about what had happened at the Kissing Event, how he had chosen her for no obvious reason. She continued with what had happened afterwards; how he had invited her, how he had picked her up, how _she _had kissed _him_ – and how she had the feeling he knew everything about her, but still thought she started to be a paranoid psychopath.

And she told him about her feelings. Those twisted emotions she was dealing with at the moment, which she couldn't control. Those moments of loneliness, in which she wanted nothing else but to have friends around her who knew what she was going through, and who understood and comforted her; but at the same time knowing that precisely that would never happen; that _her _loneliness was the only way for her friends to be safe.

"I always try to convince myself that I like being alone," she told Albus, who listened patiently and without interrupting her. "And I know it's true. I love to spend time on my own. But what makes me sick to the stomach is to know that I couldn't change it."

"Couldn't change what?"

"Me being alone." Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Even if I wanted to, there's no one I could go to. I _have _to like being alone; I have no option left which would allow me to hate it. If I did, I would get in trouble. I'm not just alone from time to time, Albus. I'm _alone_ alone."

"You know that's not true, Hermione." She heard a soft voice on the other side which wasn't Albus'; irritated, she frowned. "May I remember you that _you _decided to distance yourself from your friends, who – after some time of trying to make you feel better – just assumed that it would be best to grant you your wish?"

She pressed her lips together. "You can put it that way," she said finally. "But no matter how you see it, I couldn't just run back to them as if nothing has happened."

"Who says that?" asked Albus, and he sounded like he really meant it. "Look, you said you needed distance. And you got it. But obviously you're looking for enjoyable company again, otherwise you wouldn't be willing to go out, especially not with someone you barely like. You're so desperate to talk to people that you even overhear the voices in your head which scream at you that you're getting in danger. You even call me-"

"Danger?" Hermione echoed. "What do you mean?"

"Riddle," was Albus' surprised response. He sounded as disbelieving as Hermione, as if he couldn't understand that she didn't see the obvious.

"Look, Albus, maybe I've explained the situation with Riddle a bit too drastically, I don't really know about Riddle being dangerous-"

"Hermione," Albus interrupted her, "as your therapist and friend, let me assure you that _Tom Riddle_ is no one you should spend your precious time with."

Something heavy and invisible laid itself on Hermione's chest. It strangely reminded her of a stone. "Do… do you know him?"

At first, Albus said nothing. Then, "Yes."

"Well?"

"… One could say so, yes."

Hermione's heart stopped beating for a few seconds. "But… _how_?"

"I've kept an eye on him since he started studying and immediately joined the Student's Council. I always had the feeling that he is someone who knows what he wants…"

"That doesn't make him dangerous." Hermione's voice was very quiet and dry. Somewhere deep inside her, she wondered why she had this conversation with Albus. She _knew _Riddle was trouble; but – for some very odd reason – didn't want to believe it.

"It doesn't," agreed Albus, "but seeing how he treats his so called 'friends' does. He doesn't care for them, Hermione. He uses them, and has no problems tossing them away afterwards. Like devices which are still functioning, but easily replaceable. Wherever he goes, the atmosphere changes. People admire him for being highly intelligent and rather popular, and tend to overlook the means with which he creates this aura of power which surrounds him."

Hermione shakily breathed in. "Do you think he knows?"

"About you?"

"Yes."

Albus hesitated. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions, I think."

"But despite all my efforts to keep it a secret… you think that there is a possibility that he found out." She didn't formulate the sentence as a question. Albus' tone had suggested this assumption.

"Some secrets can't be kept forever. Some shouldn't."

Hermione snorted. "Wise words."

"I didn't start my psychology career for nothing, Hermione." There was a hint of amusement in his voice; but in the next second, it was gone. "I really do think that you will feel better as soon as you can get back to your old life. It nearly makes me glad to know that your secret is on the verge of being exposed."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? And what about Riddle? You know, it's one thing that he probably found out about it. But what does he want from me now?"

Even before Albus responded, the answer made her shut her eyes.

"I think that's rather obvious, isn't it?" His voice sounded as bitter as Hermione felt.

_Great_. That had always been the thing she had wanted to avoid.

"What am I supposed to do, Albus? Help me; I can't think properly right now." Her voice was a soft whisper; panic made her shiver.

"I think you have two options now."

_Okay_. Two were better than one.

"The first one would be: you go to him, and tell him what he wants to know. Afterwards, he'll probably leave you alone and won't bother you again. But then everything you never wanted to happen _will_ most likely happen. If one starts, there's no end in sight." Now she heard Albus take a deep breath, before he spoke again. "Or – and that would be the second option – you could continue trying to keep it a secret. You could try to avoid Riddle. You could try to go on like nothing has happened."

"What about your very convincing speech about me finally telling my secret and getting my old life back?"

"What I meant was: tell your friends," said Albus in a soft and warm voice. "You need them. If you choose not to correspond to Riddle's terms – which is, playing his game and finally giving him just what he needs – you'll need them. You'll need them all. Riddle can be very… _persuasive_. You can't face him on your own."

"So, you're suggesting that instead of just getting myself in danger, I should drag my friends along with me? Albus, your two options are _horrific_!"

"Your friends would want to help you. They would always choose to stand behind you. Hermione, it's time to face it: together, you're stronger. You won't be able stand against Riddle if you're on your own."

She heard herself breathing, in and out, in and out. It felt as if she was observing a stranger.

This needed to stop.

"So, in conclusion," she said, sitting up, "I guess I only have _one _option, right?"

* * *

_Pheeeeeeeeew! :D I knoooooow! I'm mean. Guess you thought you'd finally find out about Hermione's discovery, right? Look, at first I really wanted to tell you_ (no, I didn't)._ But then things got complicated (_no, they didn't)_, and I had to change my plans _(no, I didn't). _  
_

_But you know what? Next chapter will bring the solution. ;) And this is a PROMISE! Beside that, you'll get a furious Tom Riddle, a satisfied Gellert Grindelwald, a slowly-getting-back-to-herself-Hermione Granger, and a scared Biology professor. The whole Muppet Show in one chapter! _

_So, I really hope you'll stick around with me. It's so much fun to write this story and to see that other people enjoy it as well. I'm always glad to hear what you think (reviews are love!); besides, I have a new TUMBLR account (you can check out the link on my profile). I would love to see some of you there again. It's also the place to look for new information concerning the story and other stuff I write. So, feel free to drop by any time! :)_

_This time, I'm not going to list everyone in the credits. The list is getting too long and I'm afraid of forgetting someone. I would hate myself if I did! I hope you understand... _

_However, I would like to especially thank the people who left a review: _**kieli13, GoldenAura, Smithback, "Guest", giada, SourlessCherryxx, and Gimana Nanti51**. _It's always exciting and nice to read what people think of the story, and if they ask themselves the same questions as I do. :) _

_Of course, credits go out to **everyone **who supports me and the story by following and favoriting TCWM! I love you all!_

_Hope to see you again soon! (And maybe on Tumblr?)_

_Love,_

_Herzenslust_


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